Human Rights situation in the United States, published by Russian Foreign Ministry
Contents:
Introduction
U.S. participation in the international treaties and conventions on human rights
Manifestations of racial, ethnic and religious intolerance
Excessive use of force by the police and racial profiling
Immigration policy, human trafficking
Economic and social rights
Rights of children
Voting Rights
Freedom of speech and press, transparency of government activities
Internet censorship
Capital punishment
The penitentiary system
Tracing dissidents and potential terrorists
Indiscriminate use of force in armed conflict zones.
Program of targeted killings
Abductions, CIA "black site" prisons, tortures
Prison in the territory of the US military base in
Guantanamo and indefinite detention
To download the report:
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
‘Latin America needs independence to prosper’ – President of Nicaragua
Russia Today
October, 31, 2012
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega believes Latin America requires freedom from external influence to flourish. For Nicaragua, this means building a canal for self-sustainability. He told RT that all this is possible as hegemony is in decline.
Ortega argues that the world needs multi-polarity. Moreover, it is already heading in that direction.
The only option for hegemonic nations “is to change themselves, and to that end, they need to evolve, and to promote a world order that would be in line with international law, UN principles and the laws of international trade in a multi-polar world.”
He also believes that capitalism has failed to resolve problems such as “unemployment and poverty.”
He says that US “aid” equals “debt” and for Latin American nations to achieve prosperity they need independence.
Read more......
October, 31, 2012
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega believes Latin America requires freedom from external influence to flourish. For Nicaragua, this means building a canal for self-sustainability. He told RT that all this is possible as hegemony is in decline.
Ortega argues that the world needs multi-polarity. Moreover, it is already heading in that direction.
The only option for hegemonic nations “is to change themselves, and to that end, they need to evolve, and to promote a world order that would be in line with international law, UN principles and the laws of international trade in a multi-polar world.”
He also believes that capitalism has failed to resolve problems such as “unemployment and poverty.”
He says that US “aid” equals “debt” and for Latin American nations to achieve prosperity they need independence.
Read more......
South African census shows big disparities in wealth remain
BILL CORCORAN in Cape Town
The Irish Times
October 31, 2012
INCOMES IN South Africa have more than doubled in the last 10 years, but, 18 years after the end of apartheid, white households still take home six times more money than their black counterparts, the national census revealed yesterday.
South Africa’s third census since 1994 paints a picture of a country in which a growing black middle class has consolidated its place in society over the past 10 years; and of a government that has increased its delivery of basic services, albeit slowly.
Despite these gains, major problems remain when it comes to the provision of low-cost housing, basic services and education for the poor majority. The hoped for equitable spread of wealth between South Africa’s ethnic groups has also yet to materialise.
Read more.....
The Irish Times
October 31, 2012
INCOMES IN South Africa have more than doubled in the last 10 years, but, 18 years after the end of apartheid, white households still take home six times more money than their black counterparts, the national census revealed yesterday.
South Africa’s third census since 1994 paints a picture of a country in which a growing black middle class has consolidated its place in society over the past 10 years; and of a government that has increased its delivery of basic services, albeit slowly.
Despite these gains, major problems remain when it comes to the provision of low-cost housing, basic services and education for the poor majority. The hoped for equitable spread of wealth between South Africa’s ethnic groups has also yet to materialise.
Read more.....
Korea Best in Asia on Investor Confidence in Economy
Cynthia Kim and Eunkyung Seo
Bloomberg
Oct 31, 2012
Kang Man Soon wept on the day 15 years ago that she gave her gold wedding ring to the government, joining the millions who donated heirlooms to boost South Korea’s reserves during the Asian financial crisis.
“We just couldn’t let the country go bankrupt after all the sacrifices and hard work to save it from Japanese colonial rule and civil war,” said Kang, whose husband fulfilled a promise to replace the gold band by giving her a one-carat diamond ring this year for her 60th birthday. “The economy is much bigger and stronger now and our cars and products and pop songs are famous around the world.”
Since the 1997-1998 slump, South Korea has ridden economic crises better than most advanced economies. The stock market has risen fivefold, led by Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), which now makes almost a quarter of the world’s mobile phones, and Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. (000270) are the most profitable of the six biggest global automakers. With growth this year set to beat Asia’s other wealthy nations, the three biggest credit rating companies upgraded South Korea’s debt, citing the ability to weather shocks better than its peers.
Read more......
Bloomberg
Oct 31, 2012
Kang Man Soon wept on the day 15 years ago that she gave her gold wedding ring to the government, joining the millions who donated heirlooms to boost South Korea’s reserves during the Asian financial crisis.
“We just couldn’t let the country go bankrupt after all the sacrifices and hard work to save it from Japanese colonial rule and civil war,” said Kang, whose husband fulfilled a promise to replace the gold band by giving her a one-carat diamond ring this year for her 60th birthday. “The economy is much bigger and stronger now and our cars and products and pop songs are famous around the world.”
Since the 1997-1998 slump, South Korea has ridden economic crises better than most advanced economies. The stock market has risen fivefold, led by Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), which now makes almost a quarter of the world’s mobile phones, and Hyundai Motor Co. (005380) and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. (000270) are the most profitable of the six biggest global automakers. With growth this year set to beat Asia’s other wealthy nations, the three biggest credit rating companies upgraded South Korea’s debt, citing the ability to weather shocks better than its peers.
Read more......
Eurozone unemployment hits new record of 11.6 percent as economy slips toward recession
The Washington Post
October 31, 2012
Unemployment in the 17-country eurozone hit a record high of 11.6 percent in September, official figures showed Wednesday, a sign the economy is deteriorating as governments struggle to get a grip on their three-year debt crisis.
The rate reported by Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, was up from an upwardly-revised 11.5 percent in August. In total, 18.49 million people were out of work in the eurozone in September, up 146,000 on the previous month, the biggest increase in three months.
While the eurozone's unemployment rate has been rising steadily for the past year as the economy struggled with a financial crisis and government spending cuts, the United States has seen its equivalent rate fall to 7.8 percent. The latest U.S. figures are due this Friday.
Muslim Brotherhood role in GCC to be debated at summit
KUWAIT: The threat of the Muslim
Brotherhood will be discussed by the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) leaders at their meeting in Bahrain in December, Kuwaiti
media claimed. The request to include the Gulf role of the Islamist
organisation in the summit agenda was made by a GCC country, Kuwait
Arabic newspaper Al Shahed reported yesterday. “The country said that
the summit should discuss the role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf
countries and that the issue should be given priority because of its
serious implications,” government sources told the Kuwaiti newspaper.
According to the daily, the GCC has been
urged “to adopt unified decisions against the attitudes and behaviour
of the Muslim Brotherhood and against its blatant interference in the
domestic affairs of the member counties.” “The Islamist organisation is
accused of seeking to topple the political regimes in the GCC by
inciting the street against the governments and seeking to extend the
so-called Arab Spring to the Gulf countries with the support of foreign
countries set to benefit from the development,” the sources that the
paper did not identify, said.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Stop Trying To 'Save' Africa
By Uzodinma Iweala
The Washington Post
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the "African" beads around her wrists.
"Save Darfur!" she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!
My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.
"Don't you want to help us save Africa?" she yelled.
It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East, the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.
This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.
Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/" I am African" ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted "tribal markings" on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, "help us stop the dying."
There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head -- because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.
Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been "granted independence from their colonial masters," as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?
Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments -- without much international help -- did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.
Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa doesn't want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.
Uzodinma Iweala is the author of "Beasts of No Nation," a novel about child soldiers.
The Washington Post
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the "African" beads around her wrists.
"Save Darfur!" she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!
My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.
"Don't you want to help us save Africa?" she yelled.
It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East, the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.
This is the West's new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.
Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/" I am African" ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted "tribal markings" on their faces above "I AM AFRICAN" in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, "help us stop the dying."
Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of
Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly
focus on the continent's corrupt leaders, warlords, "tribal" conflicts,
child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital mutilation.
These descriptions run under headlines like "Can Bono Save Africa?" or
"Will Brangelina Save Africa?" The relationship between the West and
Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but such articles
are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European colonialism, when
missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus
Christ and "civilization."
There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one's cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head -- because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West's fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West's prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.
Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been "granted independence from their colonial masters," as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?
Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments -- without much international help -- did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.
Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa doesn't want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.
Uzodinma Iweala is the author of "Beasts of No Nation," a novel about child soldiers.
In Search of the Global Middle Class: A New Index
Uri Dadush, Shimelse Ali
Carnegie Paper, July 2012
The swelling middle class in emerging economies has received much attention in recent years, as it well should. The implications of its rise are far-reaching, from expanding economic opportunity to transforming the political landscape in some of the world’s most populous countries. Measuring the middle class, however, is no easy task. There is no widely accepted definition of what constitutes the middle class, and the commonly used income-based measures suffer from a number of deficiencies.
Yet, there is an easy-to-understand and as-yet-overlooked metric available: the number of passenger cars in circulation can act as a direct measure of the middle class in developing countries.1 Whereas in advanced countries, even households classified as poor own cars, in developing countries, car ownership is almost synonymous with at least middle-class status. It separates those with the ability to purchase nonessentials from the wider population. Moreover, car statistics are generally reliable and frequently updated and contain information by type of car that can be used to further segment the middle class.
To continue reading.....
Carnegie Paper, July 2012
The swelling middle class in emerging economies has received much attention in recent years, as it well should. The implications of its rise are far-reaching, from expanding economic opportunity to transforming the political landscape in some of the world’s most populous countries. Measuring the middle class, however, is no easy task. There is no widely accepted definition of what constitutes the middle class, and the commonly used income-based measures suffer from a number of deficiencies.
Yet, there is an easy-to-understand and as-yet-overlooked metric available: the number of passenger cars in circulation can act as a direct measure of the middle class in developing countries.1 Whereas in advanced countries, even households classified as poor own cars, in developing countries, car ownership is almost synonymous with at least middle-class status. It separates those with the ability to purchase nonessentials from the wider population. Moreover, car statistics are generally reliable and frequently updated and contain information by type of car that can be used to further segment the middle class.
To continue reading.....
Sunday, October 28, 2012
The Backfire in Baghdad
How ExxonMobil's God Pod beat Iraq's oil chieftains at their own game.
BY BEN VAN HEUVELEN
Foreign Policy
OCTOBER 26, 2012
In 2006, an Iraqi technocrat named Tariq Shafiq was charged with crafting an oil law. A Berkeley-trained engineer, he began his career in the 1950s, rising through the consortium of foreign firms that comprised the Iraq Petroleum Company -- until the Baathists nationalized the oil sector and sentenced him to death, in 1970, for conspiring with the imperialists. Luckily, Shafiq had been out of Iraq at the time, and he didn't return for decades. But now he would again find himself at the center of controversy. In a country that receives 95 percent of its revenue from oil, his oil law would not only shape the management and regulation of the national economy but also determine the extent to which power would be centralized in Baghdad. It was the centerpiece of Iraq's own version of the Federalist Debates.
On the federalist side, Iraq's minority Kurds -- who had already gained significant political and military independence in their semi-autonomous northern region -- argued that dispersing state power could prevent the kind of oppression that had been fueled by Saddam Hussein's complete, unwavering control of oil revenues. It would be a safeguard against tyranny. The centralists, on the other hand, argued that a Balkanization of the oil sector would lead to conflict, with local governments fighting over cross-border oil fields; moreover, they said, it would be a bad value for Iraq. If different parts of the country were bidding to partner with the same top companies, they would inevitably undercut one another. Shafiq had suffered at the hands of oppressors in Baghdad, but he still took the centralist view.
To continue reading.....
BY BEN VAN HEUVELEN
Foreign Policy
OCTOBER 26, 2012
In 2006, an Iraqi technocrat named Tariq Shafiq was charged with crafting an oil law. A Berkeley-trained engineer, he began his career in the 1950s, rising through the consortium of foreign firms that comprised the Iraq Petroleum Company -- until the Baathists nationalized the oil sector and sentenced him to death, in 1970, for conspiring with the imperialists. Luckily, Shafiq had been out of Iraq at the time, and he didn't return for decades. But now he would again find himself at the center of controversy. In a country that receives 95 percent of its revenue from oil, his oil law would not only shape the management and regulation of the national economy but also determine the extent to which power would be centralized in Baghdad. It was the centerpiece of Iraq's own version of the Federalist Debates.
On the federalist side, Iraq's minority Kurds -- who had already gained significant political and military independence in their semi-autonomous northern region -- argued that dispersing state power could prevent the kind of oppression that had been fueled by Saddam Hussein's complete, unwavering control of oil revenues. It would be a safeguard against tyranny. The centralists, on the other hand, argued that a Balkanization of the oil sector would lead to conflict, with local governments fighting over cross-border oil fields; moreover, they said, it would be a bad value for Iraq. If different parts of the country were bidding to partner with the same top companies, they would inevitably undercut one another. Shafiq had suffered at the hands of oppressors in Baghdad, but he still took the centralist view.
To continue reading.....
China's upcoming CPC congress landmark moment
Xinhua
October 28, 2012
PARIS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's urbanization process, social development and economic growth over the past decade were remarkable and have greatly impressed the world, a French expert on China said.
"The upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be a landmark moment," Pierre Picquart, who has a doctorate in geopolitics and human geography at the University of Paris-VIII, told Xinhua in an interview.
Over the past 10 years, China has gone through necessary reforms and emerged as the world's second largest economy, he said.
A large swath of regions across the country have been greatly developed and many Chinese enterprises started to invest overseas, he said, noting that China was transforming from a consumer goods producer into a world center of design and creation.
Such achievements, for a nation with a size equaling to a continent and a population of nearly 1.4 billion, were not easy to make, said Picquart.
"I have witnessed the extraordinary development of the country," he said, who has made more than 40 visits to China over the past 15 years.
On the challenges China will confront, the expert said Beijing, besides dealing with economic and social challenges, will also face problems arising from both geopolitical and strategic fronts in the years to come.
After rising to an economic power, China will encounter an array of challenges, including how to steer the world strategically toward a multi-polarized direction and how to boost ties with developing countries, especially with the BRICS members, he said.
On top of that, further engagement in the international affairs and improvement of global crisis management through the United Nations are also challenges that China will have to address, he added.
The next decade, the French expert said, is crucial to China, as Beijing will play an important role in such areas as financial regulation, economic governance, environmental protection and development of relations with other countries.
Speaking of China's development model, Picquart said the country has a cultural tradition stretching back to 5,000 years ago, much longer than those of Europe and the United States.
"I don't agree with the practice of blindly copying the experience of Europe. The United States has its own pattern. China should seek its own unique development model," he said.
He suggested that China should build on the merits of its distinctive cultural tradition and blaze its own trail of development.
By doing so, China will provide the world with a brand-new growth model, which is more harmonious and peaceful, he said, adding that the Chinese philosophy will make state relations more balanced and the Chinese culture will offer a different perspective, the one distinct from the West perception that a superpower will dominate the world by military strength.
"I think China will create a new cooperation model," he added.
Many Westerners are still biased against China, but they will gradually reverse their attitude as China continues to push forward the peaceful foreign policy and the opening-up initiative, the expert said.
"I think the best way to promote China's image is to let more people go to China, see the country by themselves and keep close contact with the ordinary Chinese," he said.
October 28, 2012
PARIS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's urbanization process, social development and economic growth over the past decade were remarkable and have greatly impressed the world, a French expert on China said.
"The upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will be a landmark moment," Pierre Picquart, who has a doctorate in geopolitics and human geography at the University of Paris-VIII, told Xinhua in an interview.
Over the past 10 years, China has gone through necessary reforms and emerged as the world's second largest economy, he said.
A large swath of regions across the country have been greatly developed and many Chinese enterprises started to invest overseas, he said, noting that China was transforming from a consumer goods producer into a world center of design and creation.
Such achievements, for a nation with a size equaling to a continent and a population of nearly 1.4 billion, were not easy to make, said Picquart.
"I have witnessed the extraordinary development of the country," he said, who has made more than 40 visits to China over the past 15 years.
On the challenges China will confront, the expert said Beijing, besides dealing with economic and social challenges, will also face problems arising from both geopolitical and strategic fronts in the years to come.
After rising to an economic power, China will encounter an array of challenges, including how to steer the world strategically toward a multi-polarized direction and how to boost ties with developing countries, especially with the BRICS members, he said.
On top of that, further engagement in the international affairs and improvement of global crisis management through the United Nations are also challenges that China will have to address, he added.
The next decade, the French expert said, is crucial to China, as Beijing will play an important role in such areas as financial regulation, economic governance, environmental protection and development of relations with other countries.
Speaking of China's development model, Picquart said the country has a cultural tradition stretching back to 5,000 years ago, much longer than those of Europe and the United States.
"I don't agree with the practice of blindly copying the experience of Europe. The United States has its own pattern. China should seek its own unique development model," he said.
He suggested that China should build on the merits of its distinctive cultural tradition and blaze its own trail of development.
By doing so, China will provide the world with a brand-new growth model, which is more harmonious and peaceful, he said, adding that the Chinese philosophy will make state relations more balanced and the Chinese culture will offer a different perspective, the one distinct from the West perception that a superpower will dominate the world by military strength.
"I think China will create a new cooperation model," he added.
Many Westerners are still biased against China, but they will gradually reverse their attitude as China continues to push forward the peaceful foreign policy and the opening-up initiative, the expert said.
"I think the best way to promote China's image is to let more people go to China, see the country by themselves and keep close contact with the ordinary Chinese," he said.
A Part-Time Life, as Hours Shrink and Shift
By Steven Greenhouse
The New York Times News Service
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Spring Valley, Calif. - Since the Fresh & Easy grocery chain was founded five years ago, it has opened 150 stores in California and positioned itself as a hip, socially responsible company.
To continue reading.....
The New York Times News Service
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Spring Valley, Calif. - Since the Fresh & Easy grocery chain was founded five years ago, it has opened 150 stores in California and positioned itself as a hip, socially responsible company.
A cross between Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s,
the company brags that its house brands have no artificial colors or
trans fats, that two-thirds of its produce is grown locally and that its
main distribution center is powered by a $13 million solar
installation.
But in one crucial respect, Fresh & Easy
is just like the vast majority of large American retailers: most
employees work part-time, with its stores changing many of their
workers’ schedules week to week.
At its store here, just east of San Diego,
Shannon Hardin oversees seven self-checkout stations, usually by
herself. Typically working shifts of five or six hours, she hops between
stations — bagging groceries, approving alcohol purchases, explaining
the checkout system to shoppers and urging customers to join the
retailer’s loyalty program, all while watching for shoplifters.
“I like it. I’m a people person,” said Ms.
Hardin, 50, who used to work as an office assistant at a construction
company until times went bad.
To continue reading.....
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Mecca's mega architecture casts shadow over hajj
Towering over Mecca, this is the world's second-tallest building – and it is just a tiny part of a voracious development that has seen historic sites bulldozed and locals forced into shantytowns. As the hajj begins, Oliver Wainwright reports
A glowing green disc hovers high in the sky at night, casting an
eerie glow over a forest of minarets, cranes and concrete frames that
seem to stretch endlessly into the dusty distance, like a vast field of
dominoes. The disc is the largest clockface in the world – and not only
does it adorn the tallest clocktower in the world, it also sits atop a
building boasting the biggest floor area in the world. Visible 30km away, this is the Abraj al-Bait, which rises like Big Ben on steroids to tower 600m over the holy mosque of Mecca in the spiritual heart of the Islamic world.This thrusting pastiche palace houses an array of luxury hotels and apartments, perched above a five-storey slab of shopping malls. Completed last year at a cost of $15bn (£9bn), it stands where an Ottoman fortress once stood. A stone citadel built in 1781 to repel bandits, the Ajyad fortress's demolition sparked an international outcry in 2002, but this was quickly rebuffed by the Saudi Islamic affairs minister. "No one has the right to interfere in what comes under the state's authority," he said. "This development is in the interest of all Muslims all over the world." The fortress wasn't just swept away – the hill it sat on went, too.
To continue reading.....
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